Ram’s Gate Winery Winemaker Joe Nielsen Named a Wine Spectator “Star of California Chardonnay”

Wine Spec­ta­tor, the world’s lead­ing author­i­ty on wine, has named wine­mak­er Joe Nielsen of Ram’s Gate Win­ery in Sonoma’s Carneros AVA one of its ​“Stars of Cal­i­for­nia Chardon­nay.” Not­ing that Cal­i­for­nia Chardon­nay is at an inflec­tion point, with fresh­ness and ele­gance shin­ing through to cre­ate dynam­ic and deli­cious wines, Wine Spec­ta­tor rec­og­nized Nielsen as one of the wine­mak­ers lead­ing the move­ment and who is ​“solid­i­fy­ing the dynamism of the cat­e­go­ry [and] inspir­ing enthu­si­asm about Chardonnay.”

Since join­ing Ram’s Gate in 2018, with own­er­ship encour­age­ment and sup­port, Nielsen has ele­vat­ed the wine­mak­ing pro­gram, yield­ing high­ly regard­ed Chardon­nay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah that express the unique ter­roir of both the Ram’s Gate estate and its vine­yard-des­ig­nate part­ners. Addi­tion­al­ly, Nielsen is a leader in sus­tain­able farm­ing and has tran­si­tioned the winery’s estate farm­ing prac­tices to organ­ic, val­ues that are in sync with Ram’s Gate co-founder and own­er Jeff O’Neill, whose com­pa­ny O’Neill Vint­ners & Dis­tillers has been a cer­ti­fied B Cor­po­ra­tion™ since 2022.

“Nielsen’s thought­ful wine­mak­ing has pro­pelled Ram’s Gate to the top ech­e­lon of Cal­i­for­nia wine,” says O’Neill. ​“We are extra­or­di­nar­i­ly grate­ful for Wine Spectator’s recognition.”

“This is a rare rela­tion­ship with own­ers and wine­mak­ers,” Nielsen said in his Wine Spec­ta­tor inter­view. ​“I am able to pro­duce the wines I would seek myself as a wine lover and collector.”

Find the best of Joe's Chardon­nays, here: https://​rams​gatewin​ery​.com/​p​a​g​e​s​/​c​h​a​r​d​o​n​n​a​y​-​s​t​a​r​-​wines